Many different conditions may cause back pain. Doctors can use several tests to visualize the spine to get an idea of what might be causing the back pain. The imaging diagnostic procedures that are currently used to image the spine include plain x-rays, myelograms, bending X-rays, PET scans, CT scans, CT myelograms, MRI scans, MRI's with contrast, and discograms.
No single test is perfect in that it identifies the absence or presence of disease 100% of the time. The problem exists that it is not always possible to obtain a correct diagnosis of the cause of a patient's back pain through state of the art imaging.